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October. Portland. Bedtime. Annie’s room. 2018 “But I shouldn’t be in that group,” my daughter wailed over and over again. Annie was put in remedial fourth-grade math at the start of the school year. She hadn’t learned her times tables. Her teacher explained that Annie could fill out the 10×10 times table like a champ. […]

And God Laughed Zoe approached me with a funny look on her face. “Rabbi,” she said, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The setting was Magic Camp last summer, on the beautiful campus of Bryn Mawr college. My boy, Emmett, was in his first year at camp. (My first year

Not-Complain, Part 2   Before I send each newsletter, I wonder, “Will they like this one?” I also often wonder about the staggering number of people who are certain they have just written a hit song. Last week’s newsletter –NOT TO COMPLAIN–The 21-Day No Complaint Challenge–climbed the charts. So, this week I wanted to follow-up

Not To Complain It would have been a comfortable chaise lounge, except it was in Dr. Black’s brightly lit dentist’s office. He walked in and asked, “Rabbi, how are you doing today?” I usually give a thought-filled response. However, in this situation, I was impeded by the hygienist’s fingers. And, the knowledge that Dr. Black

September 11, 2001 A. Where were you?B. What were you doing?C. Who do you remember being with you?D. Who did you talk to?E. What did you say or hear? Let’s assume you wrote out five responses. A. _______ B. _______ C. _______ D. _______ E. _______   Two of these answers are probably wrong. I’m not

RABBI BRIAN’S PUBLIC DIARY   2019: ISSUE #19. @RABBI_BRIAN_1970       The outburst comes from the guy behind me in the TSA line at Portland airport. It’s late on a Thursday night.   We’d just participated in the spiritual exercise of removing ourselves from our possessions. We put our laptops in separate bins. But there’s a

God is not an ass. (Love as much as you can.) In the mail the other day, I got a scary brochure entitled “Revelation Today: The End Time Is Near.” Apparently, the Reverend Myckal Morehouse has an important message for me. He was prepared to provide free admission, free parking, free childcare, and free study

Dan Brown’s conspiracy book “The DaVinci Code” was good. This is like that, but Biblical.   This is a long, super interesting read.     *Background*  Someone sent me a meme of Jesus bungee jumping from a crucifix.  A month later, I read a book that  took this meme to a whole other level –